(Indianapolis, IN)--New graduation rates are out and they’re good for a couple of reasons.  Most schools in our area showed improvement and the majority of those schools are above the Indiana state average.  Numbers for the Class of 2012 have recently been released by the Indiana Department of Education.  Statewide, 88.6 percent of students graduated on time.  Area schools that exceeded that average are Northeastern, Centerville, Hagerstown, Randolph Eastern, Randolph Central, Monroe Central, Union County, and Fayette County.  Only Richmond, Western Wayne, Franklin County, and Randolph Southern were below the state average.  Richmond’s graduation rate for the Class of 2012 is 80.3 percent.  That’s down from the 2011 rate of 81.7 percent.  Only two other area schools – Franklin County and Randolph Southern – saw graduation rates drop.  The biggest improvement came from Fayette County.  Their graduation rate jumped nine full percentage points to 92.1 percent.  Randolph Southern saw a huge drop from 95.5 percent to 79.4 percent.  It was also the poorest performing school in the Whitewater Valley.  The best graduation rate in our area, by far, was at Monroe Central where 97.6 percent of students graduated.